The Epic Life of Mr. Esteve, Ramon Casas (drawings) y Gabriel Alomar (text), 1907. Graphite pencil, ink, wash, watercolour and pastel on paper. Cau Ferrat Museum.
The first edition of the novel L’auca del senyor Esteve (The Epic Life of Mr. Esteve), by Santiago Rusiñol, came out in 1907. What we see here is the novel’s transformation into drawings by Ramon Casas and textual elegies by Gabriel Alomar.
Mr. Esteve is the leading character in the story and a member of the petit bourgeoisie of Barcelona. His grandson wants to be an artist, with all the idealistic intentions this might imply. By means of this contrast, Rusiñol sets out one of the most decisive subjects of the Art Nouveau period: the relationship between the artist and bourgeois society, a question that is finally resolved by coming to an agreement.
Premiered in 1917, it was one of Rusiñol’s greatest theatrical and public successes.
